Travel + Leisure ’s 13th Annual World’s Best Awards Readers’ Survey Results Announced

New York, NY, July 17, 2008 --(PR.com)-- Bangkok Named World’s Best City 2008.

Triple Creek Ranch in Montana Ranked No. 1 U.S. Hotel.

Nancy Novogrod, editor-in-chief of Travel + Leisure, today announces that Bangkok, Galápagos Islands, and Virgin America are first-time overall winners in Travel + Leisure ’s 2008 World’s Best Awards readers’ survey. Among the four first-ever regional hotel winners are Triple Creek Ranch in Montana, No. 1 in the U.S., and One & Only Ocean Club in the Bahamas, taking the top spot in the Caribbean. New York City is named best U.S. city for the eighth consecutive year, and Savannah, GA, makes its debut on the list of top 10 cities in the U.S. and Canada. And Vieques, named best island in the Caribbean, is a regional No. 1 newcomer this year.

The complete 2008 results, including the Top 100 Hotels Worldwide, Top 100 Hotels in the Continental U.S. + Canada, and Top 10 Cities in the World, are featured on www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest now and in Travel + Leisure’’s August issue, available on newsstands July 22.

Novogrod said: “We're delighted to welcome so many new winners this year. Nature—and adventure—was clearly a draw in the selections of the Triple Creek Ranch, in Montana, and the Galápagos Islands. California hotels won big, taking five of the top 10 spots in the Continental U.S. and Canada. Hotels in Ireland also made a great showing—they occupy the second-highest number of spots in the Top 50 Hotels in Europe list, after Italy. And Virgin America came on strong in its very first year of service, winning the prize for Best Domestic Airline.”

TRAVEL + LEISURE 2008 WORLD’S BEST AWARDS WINNERS OVERALL
WORLD’S BEST CITY Bangkok
WORLD’S BEST HOTEL Singita Sabi Sand & Kruger National Park, South Africa
WORLD’S BEST ISLAND Galápagos Islands
WORLD’S BEST LARGE-SHIP CRUISE LINE Crystal Cruises
WORLD’S BEST SMALL-SHIP CRUISE LINE Silversea Cruises
WORLD’S BEST INTERNATIONAL AIRLINE Singapore Airlines
WORLD’S BEST DOMESTIC AIRLINE Virgin America
WORLD’S BEST TOUR OPERATOR Micato Safaris
WORLD’S BEST CAR-RENTAL AGENCY Hertz
WORLD’S BEST HOTEL FOR $250 or LESS Domaine des Hauts de Loire, France

TRAVEL + LEISURE 2008 WORLD’S BEST HOTELS BY REGION
TOP HOTEL, CONTINENTAL U.S. + CANADA Triple Creek Ranch, Montana
TOP HOTEL, EUROPE Domaine des Hauts de Loire, France
TOP HOTEL, ASIA Oberoi Rajvilas, India
TOP HOTEL, AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND/SOUTH PACIFIC Voyages Lizard Island, Australia
TOP HOTEL, AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST Singita Sabi Sand & Kruger National
Park, South Africa
TOP HOTEL, MEXICO/CENTRAL + SOUTH AMERICA Alvear Palace Hotel, Buenos Aires
TOP HOTEL, CARIBBEAN/BERMUDA/BAHAMAS One & Only Ocean Club, Bahamas
TOP HOTEL, HAWAII Four Seasons Resort Lanai, The Lodge
at Koele

TRAVEL + LEISURE 2008 WORLD’S BEST CITIES + ISLANDS BY REGION
REGION CITY ISLAND
CONTINENTAL U.S. + CANADA New York Cape Breton Island
EUROPE Florence Santorini
ASIA Bangkok Bali
AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND/SOUTH PACIFIC Sydney Tasmania
MEXICO/CENTRAL + SOUTH AMERICA Buenos Aires Galápagos Islands
AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST Cape Town
HAWAII Maui
CARIBBEAN/BERMUDA/BAHAMAS Vieques

TRAVEL + LEISURE 2008 WORLD’S BEST HOTEL SPAS BY REGION
CONTINENTAL U.S. + CANADA Wickaninnish Inn, Tofino, Vancouver Island
EUROPE Four Seasons Hotel George V, Paris
ASIA-PACIFIC/AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST Four Seasons Resort, Chiang Mai, Thailand
MEXICO/CENTRAL + SOUTH AMERICA Maroma Resort & Spa, Mexico
HAWAII Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa, Maui
CARIBBEAN/BERMUDA/BAHAMAS Four Seasons Resort, Nevis

TRAVEL + LEISURE 2008 WORLD’S BEST DESTINATION SPA BY REGION
CONTINENTAL U.S. + CANADA Cal-a-Vie, Vista, California

Three travel companies—Crystal Cruises, Hertz, and Singapore Airlines—have ranked No. 1 in their respective categories every year for the past 13 years.

Interactive lists of all the 2008 World’s Best Awards winners and a slide show of the Top 15 World’s Best Hotels are available at www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest, along with contact information for winning hotels. Users can also find past Travel + Leisure magazine articles on World’s Best Award-winning hotels and resorts on the site.

The Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards winners for 2008 will be honored in New York City on July 24 at an awards luncheon at the Four Seasons Restaurant, followed by a gala event at Hudson Terrace that evening.
Travel + Leisure magazine editors are available for interviews—please contact Liz Marsh at 212-382-5684/elizabeth.c.marsh@aexp.com or Jill S. Davison at 212-382-5679/jill.s.davison@aexp.com.

WBA 2008 Survey Methodology: A questionnaire developed by the editors of Travel + Leisure, in association with Harris Interactive, was made available to Travel + Leisure subscribers at www.tlworldsbest.com during the first quarter of this year. Respondents reported where they had traveled worldwide, and rated only the destinations, properties, and companies that were relevant to their recent travel experiences. Respondents were asked to rate hotels, cities, islands, spas, hotel spas, outfitters/safari operators, cruise lines, airlines, and car-rental companies on several characteristics. The scores are indexed averages of responses concerning applicable characteristics. The complete survey methodology is available in the August issue of Travel + Leisure, and online at www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest.

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